Mihail Marcu Med Life S.A.'s (BVB:M) CEO is the most bullish insider, and their stock value gained 10%last week

Key Insights

• Insiders appear to have a vested interest in Med Life's growth, as seen by their sizeable ownership
• A total of 4 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership
• 21% of Med Life is held by Institutions

If you want to know who really controls Med Life S.A. (BVB:M), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 40% to be precise, is individual insiders. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Clearly, insiders benefitted the most after the company's market cap rose by RON231m last week.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Med Life.

See our latest analysis for Med Life

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Med Life?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Med Life does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Med Life, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Med Life is not owned by hedge funds. With a 15% stake, CEO Mihail Marcu is the largest shareholder. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 14% and 13% of the stock.

On looking further, we found that 53% of the shares are owned by the top 4 shareholders. In other words, these shareholders have a meaningful say in the decisions of the company.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There is some analyst coverage of the stock, but it could still become more well known, with time.

Insider Ownership Of Med Life

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Med Life S.A.. Insiders have a RON992m stake in this RON2.5b business. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 39% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Med Life better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Med Life you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.